freeway riding

[hutch]

yeah, i baby my bullet too though, so take that into consideration.

I do to. Most of the time I ride roads that have a lot more stops and curves, and I ride about 55mph. The day I did the 179 was unusual for me. I have other bikes for long cruises at 65-70mph, and ones that are happy on the super slab at 80mph mile after mile.. I just like my Bullet for what it is, a fun ,lets's enjoy the scenery and not just burn up mile after mile of ashphalt. It is my most enjoyable bike for the type of riding I do most.   Hutch

[RagMan]

So, What bike should I get myself, for the endless asphalt type of ride?  I kind of like the Triumph Scrambler - is it a superslab bike, or not?

[justin_o_guy]

I have a Moto Guzzi Nevada 750 that can run 80 all day & never miss a beat. In fact, thats all of 2 MPH faster than the thing was allowed to run as it broke in. 5,000 rpm translates to 78 mph on the speedo. It will get over 100 easy enough, but 110 is about it. The Navada has a small tank & will need gas at about 110 miles. Thats when it starts flashing the little "Gas Pump" light. It will deliver mid 50's MPG around town, easy running, start running over 90 & the MPG tanks, low 40's. Running 75 & 80, low 50's, upper 40's .Shaft drive, no chain hassles or belt squealing. There is a different model, the Breva, has a larger tank & different seat, otherwise the same, no,thers another difference. , tubeless tires on the Breva.
Also, the Suzuki 650 Savage with the chain mod will run higher speeds & deliver decent MPG, but ask Hutch, cuz he did the mod, I have one too, but its still belt drive.
I am just not comfortable with heavy bikes & I have some kinda hangup on wanting god MPG out of a bike, others who can ride bigger bikes or haul passengers, well,, I just wish I felt like I could do that, But I am plenty happy with the bikes I have found that I can man handle. The MPG & looks of the RE are why I am wanting one, that & it's small enough I can pick it up if I drop it. 

[RagMan]

I will hunt out a picture of the Guzzi - I like the older ones, haven't seen any recent models.  I will probably end up with ten bikes in the barn.

[Leonard]

Hutch,
  Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but the speedos on these things are usually wildly optimistic.  Check it with a GPS and get back with us. 
--Leonard

[hutch]

Hutch,
  Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but the speedos on these things are usually wildly optimistic.  Check it with a GPS and get back with us. 
--Leonard

I don't have any GPS, I have something better. A freind who is a Saginaw County Sherrif. Gary checked my 650 Savage after the belt to chain gear ratio change. He checked the Bullet and said that at 55-60 it was + or minus2mph. Plus when riding on that trip of 179miles the speed limit was 55mph. I was running 60mph and if I was running slower than that I would have got run over, believe me, people here are just as nuts as anywhere else. If you don't do 80mph on the 70mph speedlimit Interstate you will cause a traffic jam. The semis' are suppose to do 55, but do 65-70mph, so the cars just go faster than them. That is why the Bullet doesn't belong on the interstate, or above 60mph for any extended lenght of time. As mentioned before, the bike was not made for that. It is an English gentlemans backroad putter. It is not a bike that you red line through every gear, not a bike to push the envelope with. It is a time capsule .If you are into thrills, look somewhere else. It is the 60's VW Bug or Corvair of the motorcycle world. It needs more attention than most bikes, but returns dependabillity and is easy to work on. It is light and nimble, but not in a MOTO GP way, and returns great mpg. If you are ready to slow down and the trip means more than getting to the destination as fast as you can, the RE is for you. If there is anything in your personallity that needs to fill an ego or speed craving, look elsewhere. I love my Bullet for what it is,a reminder of slower, happier times.     Hutch

[gapl53]

Hutch,
  Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but the speedos on these things are usually wildly optimistic.  Check it with a GPS and get back with us. 
--Leonard

I believe that all vehicle speedometers on vehicles that the USDOT approve for use on U.S. highways are to be accurate to within 10%. I checked my 2006 Electra-x speedo with my handheld gps just the other day. What I found was strange to me because I have never encounter this type of speedo discrepency before. The speedo registered an even 5mph faster than I was traveling at all speeds from 10mph to the top indicated speed of 83mph. Which the gps said was 77.8 mph. Flat and level sitting up and begging.

[hutch]

Hutch,
  Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but the speedos on these things are usually wildly optimistic.  Check it with a GPS and get back with us. 
--Leonard

I believe that all vehicle speedometers on vehicles that the USDOT approve for use on U.S. highways are to be accurate to within 10%. I checked my 2006 Electra-x speedo with my handheld gps just the other day. What I found was strange to me because I have never encounter this type of speedo discrepency before. The speedo registered an even 5mph faster than I was traveling at all speeds from 10mph to the top indicated speed of 83mph. Which the gps said was 77.8 mph. Flat and level sitting up and begging.

Most people don't realize it, and I have never seen it mentioned here, but the tires on the Electra are different than those on the Bullet. The slightest difference in circumferance or height will throw off the speedo. I imagine since both bikes share the same speedo, and trans, that could be the problem.    Hutch  PS.    I am heading out the door for a 2 day trip to Wisconsin to pick up a 2000 Kawasaki W650 , so I will catch up when I get back.

[dewjantim]

I am curious as to what it is about the bike that makes ytou feel/think it needs a break. Not that I doubt you for an instant, just that I am not that "In Tune" with anything that I ever felt anything liie that. Is it a vibration?

54-60mph would require dropping the rpms every so often (IMO). It's a bunch of different things, vibration is one of them, sound is another, but anyone can tell when an engine is being overworked.

You know that is realy strange, My 2005 Bullet Classic only has bigger jets and a free flowing pipe, and at 60mph it is the happiest. It smooths right out as far as vibes, the motor is not working hard at all. It falls into a groove there and is happy. I rode for 179 miles at that speed and only went through a few small towns that were like 40 miles apart. I got 80mpg and used no oil that I could tell on the stick. I am used to riding by sound(no tach) after 40 years of riding. I changed my Suzuki Savage into a chain drive just for the reason you are talking about. That thing was screaming RPM's at 75mph, with the stock belt gearing. Maybe I just got a "special" Classic. By no means would I ride it on the super slabs. Mine tops out at 80mph with a tail wind, but 55-60 mph all day is no problem. It had less than 3000 miles on it when I did the 179 mile trip. Most of the time I don't even look at the speedo, I know where it seems to be the happiest by sound, and when I look down, there it is 55-60mph.     Hutch

Hutch, I will have to agree with you. I have the same modifications as you , only with a K&N air-filter also. My bike will run all day at 60-65 mph (indicated) without straining and still get fantastic mileage. Haven't had to adjust anything in the last 4500 miles, not even valves. Often I ride with bigger machines and usually am leading the pack on the back-roads. Riding a motorcycle fast within its limits is not abusing it, you are just using it as it was made to be used. There must have been something wrong with the guys bike that blew up after going 60 for only a short time. Mine has been run like that since new. REs aren't some fragile machines which need to be babied all the time, if they were they would have not been in production for so long....Dew.

[RagMan]

You should see how they were treated by the Rockers, in 50s and 60s Britain.  They held their own against any of the 500s and most of the 650s. 'cept the Velocette, it could beat them.

[c1skout]

My speedo is 5mph optimistic everywhere except at 40mph, where it's only 1mph optimistic.

[dewjantim]

You should see how they were treated by the Rockers, in 50s and 60s Britain.  They held their own against any of the 500s and most of the 650s. 'cept the Velocette, it could beat them.

How about the Gold Star, BSA's bad a$$ street racer? Dew.

[RagMan]

Rural Britain, when we used to travel in Summers, is full of tiny winding roads, and sharp hills.  The REs would beat anything around, except the Velocettes.  I had a BSA A10, that could just keep up with a friends Royal Enfield 500.  A lot of the the really good BSAs were never seen - they were bought for competition and didn't get to the rural areas. We traveled a lot in Northern Yorkshire, and the Highlands of Scotland. My folk were smiths, so we worked where we could. Never wintered in the UK, we always went back to Europe at that time, usually Italy.

[deejay]

Rural Britain, when we used to travel in Summers, is full of tiny winding roads, and sharp hills.  The REs would beat anything around, except the Velocettes.  I had a BSA A10, that could just keep up with a friends Royal Enfield 500.  A lot of the the really good BSAs were never seen - they were bought for competition and didn't get to the rural areas. We traveled a lot in Northern Yorkshire, and the Highlands of Scotland. My folk were smiths, so we worked where we could. Never wintered in the UK, we always went back to Europe at that time, usually Italy.

Awesome!